Tour of Laughter and Forgetting (and almost Crying)
Losing my bag
My first incident of forgetfulness was in Brighton. We got to the train station after dinner and I realized I had left the bag I carry with many things that are important to me. So I ran after the cab, but he turned, did not see me, so I kept running down the street, quite a few blocks, hoping I'd left the bag in the restaurant on the pier, and that it was still open.
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Losing my cell phone
I describe this in Final Thoughts.
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Losing my passport (twice)
I got to the airport to leave Paris for Rome and could not find my passport. I really did not think I had it. I could not remember taking it from the safe. I assumed I would miss the flight and have to go to the embassy to get a temporary one the next day. Mimi and Alice went ahead, through customs, but Mimi convinced me to carefully go through my bag, one piece of clothing at a time. I found it in the middle!
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When we were leaving England for Austin, once again, I could not find my passport. We had checked our bags, gone through the scanners. I'd had my passport in my hand. But I forgot where I put it when the told me to put all my stuff in the trays. I had put it in my Rick Steves money belt, but I paniced, could not find it.
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Moral of all these stories
I could say there is no moral to all these stories. There's not much justification for all this forgetfulness. And maybe it's not something that would happen to anyone else. I could blame it on age (I'm 72). But I've been forgetful since grade school. I had a very demanding teacher in 4th grade, and several times, when I was about to leave for school, I realized I didn't have the report that was due that day. I would yell, "I can't find my report." My dad would wait impatiently while I searched. Every time I got upset, up until I was in my twenties, Dad would say, "What's wrong, Will, did you lose your report?"
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But there might be other spacey people out there who could benefit from my experience in this way:
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You may need to change your mindset for the trip. If you tend to forget things at home, in your own country, the consequences are not that significant. I forget to take my wallet, sometimes, when I change into sweatpants to go play tennis. But I can always borrow money from someone, no big deal. A couple of times a year, after a few drinks, I leave my credit card somewhere. No big deal, I can retrieve it the next day. But on an international trip, forgetting something might be very problematic. Train yourself to ask, "Do I have everything?" each morning, and especially, when you leave a city or country. You might set some alarms or reminders on your phone.
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Have a plan for where you will put the most important items (like passport) in each situation: If possible, in a safe in the hotel; in your money pack on days when you need it; back into your money belt after you show it at the airport.
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